'Abducted' Iranian scientist flees to Pakistani embassy in Washington

[sparklingway]

The relevant sections here can be US Foreign Affairs and Pakistan's Strategic and Geopolitical affairs since the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran is at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC.

'Abducted' scientist flees to Iran's US interest section​

Tuesday, 13 Jul, 2010

TEHRAN: An Iranian nuclear scientist Tehran claims was abducted by US intelligence agents has taken refuge in the Islamic republic's interest section in Washington, state media reported on Tuesday.

“Shahram Amiri, the abducted Iranian expert, took refuge in Iran's interest section in Washington hours ago,” state television's website said.

In a separate report, Mehr news agency said Amiri who was “abducted by Americans went to Iran's interest section... and asked for a quick return to Tehran.” Iran's interests in the United States are managed by the Pakistan embassy as Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties for more than three decades.

Iranian officials have long maintained that Amiri was kidnapped by US agents from Saudi Arabia last year where he had gone for a Muslim pilgrimage.

Iran last week said it had submitted “evidence” to the Swiss embassy that Amiri was abducted by US intelligence agents. The Swiss embassy manages Washington's interests in Iran.

“We expect that based on the US administration's obligations... the US authorities will announce the results of their investigation regarding this Iranian national,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanaparast had said.

On June 29, Iranian television screened a video of a man claiming to be Amiri and saying that he had managed to escape from the hands of US intelligence agents in Virginia.

“I could be re-arrested at any time by US agents... I am not free and I'm not allowed to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the US government will be responsible,” he said.

“I ask Iranian officials and organisations that defend human rights to raise pressure on the US government for my release and return to my country,” the man said, adding he has not “betrayed” Iran.

US officials have dismissed the allegations in the Iranian broadcast.

Amiri disappeared in June 2009 after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage. Iran accused US agents of abducting him with the help of Saudi intelligence services.

ABC news in the United States reported in March that Amiri had defected and was working with the CIA. US officials have rejected these allegations. – AFP

 

[sparklingway]

Missing Iranian scientist 'at Pakistani embassy in US'​

Page last updated at 06:34 GMT, Tuesday, 13 July 2010 07:34 UK

Stills from footage of "Mr Amiri" Conflicting videos have deepened the mystery as to Mr Amiri's whereabouts​

Iran says a nuclear scientist it claims was abducted by the US has taken refuge in its interest section at Pakistan's embassy in Washington, state media say.

Shahram Amiri disappeared a year ago while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, Tehran said it had proof he was being held in the US. The US denies having abducted him.

The allegation came after three videos purportedly of Mr Amiri containing contradictory information as to his whereabouts emerged.

The first said he had been kidnapped, the second that he was living freely in Arizona, and the third that he had escaped from his captors.

US denial
"A few hours ago Shahram Amiri took refuge at Iran's interest section at the Pakistan embassy in Washington, wanting to return to Iran immediately," Iranian state radio reported on Tuesday morning.

Two videos supposedly showing Shahram Amiri emerged on 8 June

The US cut diplomatic relations with Iran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution and the Pakistan embassy in Washington looks after Iran's interests.

The US has strenuously denied abducting Mr Amiri, while ABC News reported in March that he had defected and was helping the CIA.

Iranian media say Mr Amiri worked as a researcher at a university in Tehran, but some reports say he worked for the country's atomic energy organisation and had in-depth knowledge of its controversial nuclear programme.

The first two videos, telling starkly contradictory stories, were posted on the video-sharing site YouTube on 8 June.

In the first, initially broadcast by Iranian television, a man purporting to be Mr Amiri says he was kidnapped by the US while on pilgrimage in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina and that he is now living in the US state of Arizona.

At the time the Iranian government described the video as evidence that he was being held in the US against his will.

Call for assistance
In the second, posted hours later on YouTube, a similar-looking man claiming to be the scientist says he is happy in the US, living in freedom and safety.

In the most recent video the man claims to have escaped US custody

In the third video, which was broadcast by Iranian state TV on 29 June, a man claiming to be the missing scientist says: "I, Shahram Amiri, am a national of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few minutes ago I succeeded in escaping US security agents in Virginia.

"Presently, I am producing this video in a safe place. I could be re-arrested at any time."

The man in the video also dismisses the second video, in which it was claimed that the scientist was living freely in the US, as "a complete fabrication".

"I am not free here and I am not permitted to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the US government will be responsible."

The video finishes with the man urging Iranian officials and human rights organisations to "put pressure on the US government for my release and return".

"I was not prepared to betray my country under any kind of threats or bribery by the US government," he adds.

A US official told the AFP news agency at the time that the allegations were "ludicrous".

BBC News - Missing Iranian scientist 'at Pakistani embassy in US'

 

[S-A-B-E-R->]

bbc confirmed it frm pak embassy and Islamabad ...dont know wt ll happen to poor dud...

 

[Jigs]

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
TEHRAN – Agence France-Presse


An Iranian nuclear scientist Tehran claims was abducted by U.S. intelligence agents has taken refuge in Iran’s interest section at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, state media reported on Tuesday.

"Shahram Amiri, the abducted Iranian expert, took refuge in Iran's interest section in Washington hours ago," state television's website said.

In a separate report, Mehr news agency said Amiri who was "abducted by Americans went to Iran's interest section... and asked for a quick return to Tehran."

Iran's interests in the United States are managed by the Pakistan embassy as Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties for more than three decades.

Iranian officials have long maintained that Amiri was kidnapped by U.S. agents from Saudi Arabia last year where he had gone for a Muslim pilgrimage.

Iran last week said it had submitted "evidence" to the Swiss embassy that Amiri was abducted by U.S. intelligence agents. The Swiss embassy manages Washington's interests in Iran.

"We expect that based on the U.S. administration's obligations... the U.S. authorities will announce the results of their investigation regarding this Iranian national," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanaparast had said.

On June 29, Iranian television screened a video of a man claiming to be Amiri and saying that he had managed to escape from the hands of U.S. intelligence agents in Virginia.

"I could be re-arrested at any time by U.S. agents... I am not free and I'm not allowed to contact my family. If something happens and I do not return home alive, the U.S. government will be responsible," he said.

"I ask Iranian officials and organizations that defend human rights to raise pressure on the U.S. government for my release and return to my country," the man said, adding he has not "betrayed" Iran.

U.S. officials have dismissed the allegations in the Iranian broadcast.

Amiri disappeared in June 2009 after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage. Iran accused U.S. agents of abducting him with the help of Saudi intelligence services.

ABC news in the United States reported in March that Amiri had defected and was working with the CIA. U.S. officials have rejected these allegations.

 

[Patriot]

Probably some deal made between Iran and US - I highly doubt he could get out of custody and that too in mainland US!

 

[GUNNER]

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2010 (AFP) - An Iranian nuclear scientist, who Tehran claims was abducted by US forces, is in the United States by choice and is "free to go," the US State Department said Tuesday.

"He has been here on his free will and is obviously free to go," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

Shahram Amiri surfaced at the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington, which handles Iranian affairs in the US capital, on Tuesday.

He has claimed he was kidnapped by US spies last year, though US television network ABC reported in March that he had defected and was working with the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

[nwmalik]

Was watching Al Jazeera, and the newsbar stating that the missing iranian nuclear scientist was in Pak embassy USA seeking asylum.
Anyone with more on this?

 

[mjnaushad]

He came to the wrong place then......Pakistan is so much under US pressure that it wont even give asylum to a Pakistani if US object, and its Irani we are talking about here. BTW who is he hiding from USA or Iran??

 

[nwmalik]

sorry, already a thread regards this.
Kindly close this thread.
sorry and thanks

 

[sparklingway]

Scientist Seeks to Return to Iran From U.S., Pakistan Says
By SALMAN MASOOD and ALAN COWELL

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In the latest twist in a murky tale, Pakistan said Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran maintains was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency had taken refuge in a section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington that deals with Iranian interests.

Iranian officials were “making arrangements for his repatriation,” said Abdul Basit, a spokesman at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, but no details were made public.

The scientist, Shahram Amiri, 32, vanished during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009, and Iran accused the United States of abducting and torturing him. He had worked at Iran’s Malek Ashtar University, which is linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

Confusion over his whereabouts rose in June, after two conflicting videos emerged, one publicized by Iran that portrayed him as a prisoner in the United States, the other as a free man who was working on an advanced degree there.

If the Iranian version is true, it is not clear how the man was able to reach the Pakistani Embassy section. If the second version is accurate, it is not clear why he would want to take refuge there.

Until Tuesday, the United States had made no official comments on the case, though as it was building its ultimately successful case for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program last month, a Western official said Mr. Amiri was “one of the sources” for new information on the program.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton finally broke the American silence on Tuesday, responding to reporters’ questions by saying that Mr. Amiri had been in the United States “of his own free will” and could leave when he wished, according to an unofficial transcript of remarks made a news conference with Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, at the State Department.

She said that Mr. Amiri had been due to leave for Iran a day earlier, but “was unable to make all of the necessary arrangements” to travel there through other countries.

“He’s free to go,” she said. “He was free to come. These decisions are his alone to make.”

Iranian media quoted Mr. Amiri on Tuesday as saying that the United States had wanted to quietly return him to Iran and “cover up the kidnapping. ”

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr. Basit, said that Mr. Amiri was in the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani Embassy, a section “manned by Iranian nationals” who were “making arrangements for his repatriation.” Countries that do not maintain direct diplomatic ties often establish an “interest section” in another country’s embassy. Iran’s is connected to the Pakistani Embassy; the United States has a parallel office at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution.

The conflicting videos emerged just before the United Nations Security Council voted to approve the new sanctions against Iran. The one publicized by Iran showed a young man speaking in Persian through a computer phone hookup and saying he had been kidnapped in a joint operation involving the C.I.A. and the Saudi intelligence service in Medina on June 3, 2009. He said that he was taken to a house in Saudi Arabia, that he was injected with a shot, and that when he awoke he was on a plane heading to the United States.

He said he recorded the video on April 5 in Tucson. The announcer said that he could not disclose how the video was obtained.

The second videotape, posted on YouTube shortly after the first video was publicized, showed a young man in a suit who, also speaking in Persian, identified himself as Mr. Amiri. He said he was free and safe in the United States and was working on his Ph.D. He also demanded an end to what he called false videos about himself, saying he had no interest in politics or experience in nuclear weapons programs.

On Tuesday, statements attributed to Mr. Amiri by Iranian media hewed to the storyline of the first video, quoting him as saying of American officials, “As soon as my interview appeared on the Internet they saw that they were the losers in this matter.” Iran said last week that the Swiss envoy was summoned for a second time to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran over Mr. Amiri’s case.

Iran’s state-run English-language broadcaster Press TV said the Iranian Foreign Ministry had handed over to Swiss diplomats in Tehran “new documents related to the abduction of the Iranian national by the C.I.A.” and called for Mr. Amiri’s “swift and unconditional release.”

The broadcaster quoted an “audio message obtained by Iran’s intelligence sources” as saying he had been offered $10 million “to appear on CNN and announce that he had willingly defected to the United States.” Iranian news outlets have also said that a former Iranian deputy defense minister, Alireza Asgari, was abducted during a trip to Turkey in 2007. The two videos released in June served to deepen the mystery.

Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, and Alan Cowell from London.

 

[Hyde]

Iranian scientist seeks refuge in Pakistan embassy in US​

WASHINGTON (July 14 2010): An Iranian nuclear scientist who vanished more than a year ago mysteriously turned up in Washington on Tuesday saying he had been kidnapped but the United States denied that he was held against his will. Iran, which is locked in a stand-off with the West over its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, has repeatedly accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of abducting Shahram Amiri, who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.

Amiri, who went missing during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia more than a year ago, appeared at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani embassy, which represents Iran because Tehran and Washington have no diplomatic relations. A man identifying himself as Amiri has variously said in recent videos that he was kidnapped and tortured; that he was studying in the United States; and that he had fled US agents and wanted human rights groups to help him return to Iran.

Amiri was quoted by Iranian state TV on Tuesday as saying "my kidnapping was a disgraceful act for America." The mystery surrounding him fuelled speculation that he may have had valuable intelligence about the Iranian nuclear program. In March, ABC News reported he defected and was helping the CIA. US officials on Tuesday said Amiri had decided to return to Iran of his own volition.

The United States accuses Iran of using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop weapons. Iran, which has been hit by four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over the nuclear issue, says its program is to generate power. Intelligence about the program is at a premium for the United States, which fears that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten its close ally, Israel, as well as oil supplies from the Gulf and friendly nations in Europe.

"My kidnapping was a disgraceful act for America ... I was under enormous psychological pressure and supervision of armed agents in the past 14 months," Amiri, who is in his thirties, was quoted as telling Iran's state TV in a phone interview. "Amiri has been escorted by American forces to Iran's interests section in Washington," Iran's PressTV said.

UNCLEAR HOW AMIRI CAME TO US Just what happened to Amiri and how he came to be in the United States remained unclear. In June, the State Department said the United States had not kidnapped Amiri but did not address whether another country might have abducted the man and turned him over.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters: "Mr Amiri has been in the United States of his own free will and he is free to go." She contrasted his situation with that of three US hikers in Iranian custody. While US officials denied they were looking to swap Amiri for the three Americans arrested near the Iraq border about a year ago, raising their case in connection with the nuclear scientist suggested they might be interested in an exchange.

In Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said: "We do not think it is the right thing to discuss swapping Shahram Amiri for three Americans who illegally entered Iranian territory." Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, say they strayed over the border while hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Amiri surfaced days after last Friday's Cold War-style spy swap when 10 people charged in the United States with being Russian agents were exchanged for four held in Russia on charges of spying for the West. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Amiri was due to leave on Monday but was unable to make the necessary arrangements.

Crowley said he had no information to suggest Amiri had been mistreated while in the United States. He did not address the possibility of Amiri's mistreatment elsewhere. Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Under the umbrella of the Pakistani embassy, the Iranian interests section, which is staffed by Iranians, provides consular services including information on travel visas. US interests in Iran are handled by the Swiss embassy in Tehran.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Very mysterious. One would think that he will not live long if/when he returns to Iran, UNLESS he was an Iranian agent only pretending to defect. I don't think you can defect from Iran, change your mind, make up a story that you were kidnapped, and return home to a big party and parade.

 

[ejaz007]

Clinton says Iran scientist free to come and go
Updated at: 0815 PST, Wednesday, July 14, 2010

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri had been free to come and go from the United States.

"Mr. Amiri has been in the United States of his own free will and he is free to go," Clinton told reporters. "In fact he was scheduled to travel to Iran yesterday but was unable to make all of the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through a transit country," she said.

Clinton called on Tehran to release three American hikers being held in Iran and to provide more information on former FBI agent Robert Levinson who disappeared during a business trip to Iran.

Referring to Amiri, Clinton said: "He's free to go, he was free to come, these decisions are his alone to make."

Clinton says Iran scientist free to come and go

 

[Spartacus_Σπάρτα&#95]

and that he had fled US agents and wanted human rights groups to help him return to Iran.​

[/B]

how did he fled us agents? he has to be some kind of a super commando?

why is the us not asking him abut the "Iran nuke work"???

very strange miss managed spy game!

 

[WAQAS119]

I guess! US is attempting to penetrate in Iranian Nuclear Program in someway or other.